After yesterday’s post on long white gloves was published, my assistant pointed out that the first two images were actually of the same woman. Because my schedule in India was so unstructured, IÂ would have thought the chances of shooting the same woman twice would have been infinitesimal.

To see someone, halfway around the world, with my same passion for mixing color and pattern, made me feel an instant kinship to this mystery woman.

I don’t want to make trouble but I’m not sure if she has a passion for mixing color and pattern. I happen to think she just wears what she has because she doesn’t have much. I could be wrong.http://www.mimosasandme.com

She clearly does have a passion for mixing color because her base garments are different in each shot and they are color coordinated. To assume someone doesn’t have much because they live in another country is rude and ethnocentric.

A more interesting topic of conversation might be the need to wear all that protective gear in order to keep one’s skin white and pure as snow (or at least to not get any darker)…and to differentiate from the “unwashed masses” that are dark and undesirable…hence poor and of lower caste.
This is so very common in Asia (and shockingly now in parts of the US where Asian communities are large) as well, with regular scenes of women with outlandishly large sun visors, poking people in the eyes with umbrellas when it’s not raining, elbow length gloves when driving or riding bikes/mopeds and most shocking of all, the full face mask (a la Mexican pro wrestlers) when at the beach (so far a China only fad, I think)!
This, coupled with the huge industry of whitening creams and formulas in Asia (Shiseido, SKII, etc) and you have a cultish worship of lily whiteness (not of Caucasian people, but rather the color) and a very twisted mindset!

It all depends on what the culture think is beautiful. In Asia or China white is the symbol of beauty so they try to keep themselves as white as possible. I don’t think this is a twisted mindset. It’s the same with Americans being obsessed with tanned skin and going to tanning salon every week to get tanned. It’s a cultural value not a twisted mindset. You might not like it, but that doesn’t mean it’s twisted.

Actually I was at the beach the other day in Southern California, and I saw some folks wearing the full mask. So that’s in the U.S. now as well. Whoa! I can’t say for certain they were Asian folks (on account of the masks). But I think the sun does more than darken skin, it also damages it and increases chances of skin cancer. It could be argued that protecting oneself from the sun is as much about looking younger than looking lighter. Anyway, that’s why I cover up! It’s a pretty good idea to carry an open umbrella when out in the sun in Southern Cal or a very large brimmed hat. Some people may take it all too far, but that’s how we travel. We’re just people. Lastly, the dress and gloves of this woman may be more about religion than vanity.

dis is not abt white worship!!!!the cover up is to protect skin from sun damages n skin cancer…the dress is a common traditional wear….salwar kameez , which u vl find all over India, and its d most comfortable outfit ever!!

hello there..I live in Delhi, India, not very far from Varanasi. This is a very common picture of a girl going for some tutions and using whatever possible clothing she has to protect herself from the scorching sun and dust. The sun does more than just darken the skin.The print and pattern mix is happy coincidence and I’m glad its on a blog as popular as The Sartorialist.

The same white gloves are used here (in Egypt). They are typically worn for one of two reasons, either to protect from the sun, particularly seen on women driving (think: hands on tire all day long), or to cover one’s hands if one is too conservative and: a. does not want to show skin at all, or b. Avoid touching men’s skin when shaking hands. I thought of wearing them too in fact as an alternative to applying layers and layers of sunblock on my hands everytime I step out.

And I like her. She seems to me to have a mind of her own. Whatever is the reason behind the gloves…

I’ve seen lots of women in Yemen wear long gloves (although usually black). Often they are covered from head to toe. One reason for the gloves — Muslim women do not expose their bare arms. Some do not expose any skin.

simply telling…. the girl is wearing gloves and stole like that because at varanasi aka banaras has high temperature at the time when the photo was taken. So in order to protect her skin from tanning she wore like that.
A lots of girl do that in India.
XOXO